Fairhaven Shipyard proposes controversial wall

A proposed 30-foot wall around Fairhaven Shipyard's North Yard has mystified neighbors who say the structure will not curb pollution there.

ARIEL WITTENBERG

FAIRHAVEN — A proposed 30-foot wall around Fairhaven Shipyard's North Yard has mystified neighbors who say the structure will not curb pollution there.

The North Shipyard has been the subject of environmental investigations in recent years. In 2012 EPA cited it for violations of the Clean Air Act. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is in ongoing negotiations with the yard's owners about dust and noise pollution.

Now, owners of the shipyard have set up hearings with the Fairhaven Zoning Board of Appeals for a 30-foot wall around the property. According to a notice of the hearing sent to neighbors, the 340-foot-long barrier would wrap around the corner of Water and Union streets in an area where there is currently a chain-link fence.

The wall's purpose is unclear.

The three owners of the shipyard, Max and Gail Isaksen and Kevin McLaughlin, did not respond to questions.

McLaughlin is on vacation this week and Max Isaksen did not respond to two phone calls for comment. A woman who answered the phone at the Euro Ship Store, owned by Gail Isaksen, said Gail declined to comment because she "doesn't think she is the best person to answer questions about this."

Beth Luey, who lives on Middle Street and who opposes the wall, speculated that it is an attempt to respond to pollution concerns. But, she said, she does not believe it would be effective.

"They don't do work at ground level," she said. "They work on large fishing vessels so the noise and the dust will get around the wall."

She and her neighbors have started a petition opposing the wall. They want the nail gunning, paint grinding and other boat work to be done in an enclosed space.

"We don't want a wall, we want four walls and a roof," Luey said.

DEP Spokesman Edmund Coletta said his agency only heard about the wall from Fairhaven Building Inspector Wayne Fostin. Though the agency is in ongoing mitigation with shipyard owners and could impose "multiple requirements to address that site," Coletta said the wall is not part of that process.

"It is not something we have required of them to do. We have had no discussions with them about the wall," he said.

He added that in order for the wall to be effective for dampening sound it would probably have "some sort of acoustic panels."

Details about the wall are unclear, and final plans for the structure have not yet been submitted to Fostin.

Fostin said he does not know what materials will be used to construct the wall and characterized the 30-foot height as a "projection."

He said he spoke to owners of the shipyard only briefly to set up a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing about the wall. The hearing is required because the owners wish to install the wall just one foot from the property line instead of the five-foot setback required by town bylaws for accessory structures.

Fairhaven zoning bylaws actually prohibit any fence, wall or hedge from being taller than six feet, but Fostin said this wall "is considered an accessory structure because we need the variances." An accessory structure is one that is a secondary structure on a property but serves a related use. For example, a home might have an accessory structure that is a tool shed or a detached garage.

It's not just neighbors of the wall who oppose it.

At 30-feet the wall would be a looming structure — buildings in town are not allowed to be taller than 40 feet, according to current zoning bylaws.

Saying the wall would mar a historical area of town, Tourism Director Christopher Richard has written a letter opposing the structure to the Board of Appeals.

Fairhaven Shipyard is located in Fairhaven Village, which was first settled in the 1700s and has since been home to many notable residents including Henry Huttleston Rogers and the Delano family.

Richard said the wall would be a detriment to summertime historic tours he leads through the neighborhood.

"The Delanos grew up there, (Herman) Melville sailed from there. To just block it off with a huge wall, in my opinion, is not keeping it at all in the historic nature of the neighborhood," he said.